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Coming back to Life

THE WINTER WORKS ALBUM January 2019

T H E T R A V E L S H O WJANUARY 2019 It is that time of year, the TV, newspapers and online is full of travel, places to go and people to see. And it prompts this small collection of my favourite cities, places to which I have travelled, enjoyed and felt privileged to have been..​

A R O M A N I A N R O M A N C E​OCTOBER 2018 We made a journey across the rich landscapes of the Carpathian Mountains and the historic province of Transylvania. We heard the stories of its legends and tales of the 15th-century ruler of Wallachia, Vlad the Impaler. We entered the celebrated, exquisite painted churches in Moldavia.

There was tranquillity in the Convents and unique painted churches of Bucovina, with their colour ladened exterior frescoes protected by soaring shingle roofs. Remarkable work painted in the 16th and 17th centuries yet they retained their freshness and colour.

Brasov entertained us for two days a 12th-century town renowned for its Gothic-style Black Church.

In Sinaia, the ‘Pearl of the Carpathians’, we saw Peles Castle the summer residence of the first king of Romania, Carol I.

And just up the road, Bran, whose medieval castle, also known as Dracula’s Castle, to protect the old border between Wallachia and Transylvania.

And, of course, Bucharest, the capital, sometimes known as ‘Little Paris’, has wide boulevards and French architecture, whilst the Palace of the Parliament is the second largest building in the world after the Pentagon.

If you want to really understand something place yourself in the care of a passionate expert. Christopher Baines is just such a person. He unlocks the magic of Whittenham Clumps and artist Paul Nash’s constant fascination with this special landscape. We joined Christopher Baines on a special walk around the Wittenham Clumps, stopping to examine particular points of view where Nash took the landscape and made it his own. Before we set of Christopher gave a illustrated talk, full of insight and anecdote; ideas that made the walk so very special.

A tour of my studioSummer 2018​I was so pleased to welcome Alison and Tom into my ‘studio’ the other day.The result was a lovely two-minute film from AlisonShe commented 'Tim Baynes opens his studio in Beaconsfield to us – what a treat! My son has just taken art as a GCSE option in school and we thought a visit to an artists’ studio would be a perfect inspiration'

WHITTENHAM CLUMPSMarch 2018 Some places truly strike a cord.These are places that preoccupy you for many days after your visit. The place you really cannot wait to get back to. Whittenham Clumps is one of my places.

I walked past it in July 2103 with two friends as we walked the Thames Path. I immediately created a linocut from the drawing I made at that time. It has been at the back of my mind since as a magic place, there, but not quite.

Remarkable views are here, you look across Oxfordshire to the north, Chilterns to the East, South and West across the Berkshire Downs and Wiltshire.

The artist Paul Nash, who first saw them in 1911, described the view from The Clumps: "a beautiful legendary country haunted by old gods long forgotten” Paul Nash repeatedly painted Wittenham Clumps. I hope to follow in his wake, in a more industrious fashion than I have hitherto.​

Painting the library November 2017 and in February 2018 were the first times I had engaged publicly about my painting.

(Aside from muttered openings in my 2010 and 2011 shows).

I finished the actual 'talk' in forty minutes and then we got into an exercise: I'd bought some gear and paper and a jar of Rudbeckia stems and we all got to work.

It was a really exciting session! A big thanks to Beaconsfield Library for suggesting the idea and helping to make it fly!

Three big learnings1. People are more interested in how one does something more than why or what

2. People love getting stuck into something

3. Taking along some equipment so people could have a go with untried materials was a bonus - for they love experimenting with something new